1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a real time communications system and more particularly to an integrated real time on-line communications system wherein distributed users can communicate with each other using any of a variety of on-line communications tools.
2. Background Description
Personal productivity applications or tools are well known and readily available for everyday use. Examples of such personal productivity tools include state of the art communications tools such as instant messaging applications and e-mail, as well as personal information manager (PIM) software. These personal productivity tools are available for a wide range of platforms that range from small hand held devices such as what are known as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and web enabled or third generation (3G) cell phones to larger personal computers (PC) and even to distributed or Internet based platforms.
Typical well known instant messaging applications include, for example, America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM) from AOL, Inc., Yahoo! Messenger from Yahoo! Inc. and MSN Messenger from Microsoft Corporation. Although instant messaging is very popular for private, somewhat intimate communications, to date instant messengers have found few valid uses in the business environment. However, “(m)any industry analysts predict that instant messaging will eclipse e-mail in the workplace as a tool for internal communication or a way to confirm transactions.” Vise, David A., “AOL, HP to Sell Instant Messaging Business” The Washington Post, Jan. 23, 2003, page E05.
A typical e-mail client includes an inbox for receiving and managing incoming e-mails; a composition function for creating e-mailable messages; a spell checker for checking those messages; and, an address book for storing the e-mail addresses of frequent contacts. Examples of e-mail clients include Outlook and Outlook Express from Microsoft Corporation, Netscape Mail from Netscape Communications Corporation and Eudora from Qualcomm Inc. Both Palm OS based and Windows CE based PDAs also include e-mail preparation and management capability and synchronize/interface with the host desktop e-mail client. Further, PDAs with a capability of connecting to the Internet, e.g., wireless connectivity, may have a full e-mail capability with an in-box, an out-box and local storage for storing and archiving sent and received messages. E-mail is invaluable in business today and often may be the only way two remotely located people can communicate. For example, many advertisements, especially in the “Want Ads,” only provide an e-mail address for inquiries and/or responses.
Normally, a PIM application is included in desktop software for most PDAs and may include a calendar, a task and/or “to do” list and, a contact list or address book. The Palm Desktop from Palm, Inc. for Palm operating system (Palm OS) is one such example for PDAs. Also some PC suites such as Outlook, for example, include a PIM that shares its contact list as an address book for e-mail. Typically, with each of these PIMs, the user enters personal information such as, scheduled meetings, deadlines and etc. Also, the user sets reminder alarms that provide an audio and/or visual notification of impending meetings or deadlines. A mainframe or Internet based system has data stored centrally and the user can authorize selective access to others for updating as well as for retrieving current calendar information. This is not possible for local PIM systems, e.g., PDA or PC based. So, while the user may have been reminded to attend a meeting, no one else may know where the user is, when he/she will return or, if the user should or shouldn't be paged. PIM systems have found such common business usage that many have expressed the feeling that, they cannot function without their PDA.
Thus, there is a need for a way to provide selected business associates with up to date personal status automatically and in real time.